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Twelfth Night

or, What You Will

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Overview

Set in a topsy-turvy world like a holiday revel, this comedy devises a romantic plot around separated twins, misplaced passions, and mistaken identity. Juxtaposed to it is the satirical story of a self-deluded steward who dreams of becoming “Count Malvolio” only to receive his comeuppance at the hands of the merrymakers he wishes to suppress. The two plots combine to create a farce touched with melancholy, mixed throughout with seductively beautiful explorations on the themes of love and time, and the play ends, not with laughter, but with a clown’s sad song.

Each Edition Includes:• Comprehensive explanatory notes • Vivid introductions and the most up-to-date scholarship • Clear, modernized spelling and punctuation, enabling contemporary readers to understand the Elizabethan English• Completely updated, detailed bibliographies and performance histories • An interpretive essay on film adaptations of the play, along with an extensive filmography

Twelfth Night

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Table of Contents

Twelfth Night – William Shakespeare – Edited by Herschel Baker Samuel Johnson: From The Plays of William ShakespeareWilliam Hazlitt: From Characters of Shakespeare?s PlaysCharles Lamb: On the Character of MalvolioHarley Granville-Barker: Director?s PrefaceLinda Bamber: Comedy, Women, and DevelopmentRobert Kimbrough: Androgyny in ?Twelfth Night?Sylvan Barnet: ?Twelfth Night? on the Stage